The analysis of newspaper articles' reporting of legislation relating to Cancer Registries

Abstract

Objectives The first population-based cancer registry (PBCR) was established in Japan in the 1950s; however, the legality of the registry was unclear, and scarcity of government funding resulted in data of poor quality. Although the collection of personal information is indispensable to checking for duplicated records and for patient follow-up, privacy protection was a main obstacle and was directly related to public opinion. The purpose of this study is to figure out the changing perspectives of newspaper reports about PBCR and to discuss qualitative changes in them.Methods Articles with the PBCR-related keywords "cancer and registration", "cancer and statistics", "cancer and control policies" and "cancer and information" were extracted from five major newspapers and 50 local papers published during the 3rd-term Comprehensive 10-year Strategy for Cancer Control (2004-2013), the era of improved quality and standardization of cancer registries. From the 960 articles containing the keywords, 441 were finally for analysis.Results Key social events occurred in the background while the articles on cancer registries increased. For instance, legislation passed for the Cancer Control Act in 2006 and the Cancer Registry Promotion Act in 2013, and carcinogenic health hazard incidents such as the nuclear plant accident after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 contributed to increased interest in PBCR. The word "cancer registry" appeared most frequently in 2006 (68 times) followed by 2011 (60 times). Qualitative analysis of the articles showed the tide of public opinion turned against conservative privacy protection and toward the need for data.Conclusion The interest in cancer registries increased during the observation period due to the background events that demanded the monitoring of cancer incidences and survival rates and providing precise information on cancer burden. For the general public, the benefit of PBCR is indirect. Active provision of information on PBCRs and related epidemiology information should help generate positive public opinion in Japanese society.